The transgender women were returning after attending a function in suburbs of the provincial capital when were shot at by men clad in balaclavas.
TransAction Pakistan, a group advocating trans rights, said Gul Panra was shot six times at the point-blank range. She was rushed to Sherpao Hospital, but she succumbed to her wounds on the way. Whereas, another trans woman, Chahat, was in critical condition and moved to Khyber Teaching Hospital.
Police said they have started a probe into the murder.
Transgender persons are frequently subjected to torture and are been murdered on the basis of the discrimination against them.
A transgender person was shot dead by unidentified persons in a posh locality of Islamabad in July this year. The transgender woman, identified as Beenish, was shot dead at the sector E-11 of the federal capital. The reasons for the killing have so far been unknown, nor a case of the incident is reported to be registered.
In May this year, a trans person was murdered in Rohtas Fort area, Jehlum. The victim, identified as Hassan alias Heerawas, was murdered and his body was thrown into a well. Rescue 1122 shifted the body to the district headquarters hospital.
A month earlier, a 15-year-old Christian transgender was gang-raped and murdered by ‘local thugs’ in Faisalabad on Saturday. While demanding justice from Shireen Mazari, activist Shaan Taseer had said that the Christian and transgender community are subjected to persecution in Pakistan. “Your [Shireen Mazari] urgent intervention is required to reassure us that Pakistan is for all,” he added.
In Dec 2019, Maya, a transgender woman from Nowshera, was killed by her family after she moved to Peshawar. According to a BBC report, Maya and her friend Mehak both had a troubled past where their families had constantly abused them. They had escaped the torture of their families three times, but after the third, Maya was gunned down by her family.
According to reports, almost 50 members of the transgender community have been killed and more than 300 have faced sexual harassment and assault during the last four years in KP alone. Moreover, gender discrimination has forced the community to indulge in prostitution – that has exposed it to the hazards of HIV AIDS.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report said that following a string of attacks on trans women in 2016, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government passed a resolution calling on the federal government to protect trans people. In 2018, Pakistan’s senate passed a sweeping transgender rights bill that explicitly prohibits discrimination and harassment of trans people, and protects their rights to health and access to public places. In 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched a healthcare access program that specifically included trans people.